Late nite musings from a pop culture insomniac

Wendy Eats Crow

How you doin? My favorite show to watch while on the treadmill, and by favorite I mean only, is The Wendy Williams Show. Season 6 of Wendy kicked off on Monday with a very welcome Hot Topics show, dedicated to Wendy’s take on celebrity news stories. Since Wendy has been on vacation for the last six weeks, there was a lot to catch up on.

First, Wendy dives right into the Beyoncé and Jay Z divorce/pregnacy rumors. During the filming of the On The Run Tour in Paris for HBO, Jay Z changed a lyric to ‘she’s pregnant with another one’. A longtime Beyoncé pregnancy doubter, Wendy posits this is just a publicity ploy to get higher viewers for show’s premiere on Saturday. She cites Beyoncé’s father, who interviewed that the pregnancy and elevator scuffle were both ploys to up attendance for the concert tour. Before we’re on the next topic, Wendy gives us her version of the Jay Z/Beyoncé marriage: separate hotels, jealousy over who’s dressing room is closer to the stage (Beyoncé’s, natch), etc. She ends wondering why they’d call it off now when Blue Ivy is in the picture and its very easy for either of them to have a side piece where ever they go. Juicy!

Then we’re on to what Wendy calls the biggest story of the summer, Nick and Mariah getting divorced. Wendy wants to know what’s going on and so do I! She’s always thought their marriage was shady, especially since they got married after only dating 6 weeks and Nick getting a giant MARIAH tattoo on his back. Wendy breaks down Nick’s transgressions and notes that reportedly Kim Kardashian’s name is ‘persona non grata’ in Mariah’s presence. Mariah’s appearance on TRL with a Good Humor cart and gold shorts, babbling incoherently, is brought up and her love of sips of champs. Wendy theorizes that Mariah, with her $350 Million fortune, expected Nick to be a puppet, rather than working on America’s Got Talent, Real Husbands of Hollywood, and various DJ gigs. As Wendy sees it, Nick’s star is on the rise and Mariah cant stand to see it. The tip off for the trouble was when Mariah’s latest album flopped around the same time that divorce rumors started. And even Mariah’s number 1 fan on the Wendy staff, Norman, feels sorry for Nick. Uh-Oh!

Finally we get to Apollo Nida reporting to jail a day late and several dollars short after taking a side trip to visit Phaedra and pack his clothes while yelling at her for not putting any money in his jail account. Phae is also not going to bring their kids to visit him in jail. Wendy polls the audience if she should or shouldn’t bring Mr. President and the other one, and it’s decidedly on the NOT side. Wendy notes that Apollo is pretty much done after this. Without shady Phae-Phae, no one is interested in his story or an Apollo Goes Straight reality show. So True!

Finally, we round out this juicy sesh of Hot Topics with the cast changes on The View. Wendy is a longtime loyal viewer and reveals that she’ll be running to her dressing room the second the show is over to see how the new cast does (spoiler: awkward first show, but highest ratings in 8 years). Wendy gives a reading of the expressions on each face, noting that Rosie’s looking great, Whoopie wants this awkward photo to be over, no one cares who’s wearing the pink dress, and Rosie Perez is the luckiest girl in the world. Nail’d it!

After the break, we’re back with Diana Madison from Hollyscoop to break down the Chris Martin/Gwyneth Paltrow drama with Jennifer Lawrence. Frankly, Diana is not my favorite gossip guest on this show (second to Perez Hilton), and although Wendy tried to juice it up, Diana brings nothing new to these frankly very stale rumors. She also covers off on the photo scandal and Ariana Grande’s diva-like demands. Poor Wendy has to listen to Diana regurgitate a publicist’s “source close to Ariana” that she’s too overwhelmed by her various press tours and is having a hard time dealing with all the attention and internet trolls. Diana is on my list now, earning my “Oh Puh-leeze Seal of Disapproval.”

Then, we’re on to the crow eating. For those that don’t know, this started last season, when Wendy didn’t think that Kim Kardashian would actually marry Kanye, and if she did, she would eat crow. Later, she amended her bet to be if they made it past 72 days. Being a woman of her word, Wendy has a gourmet chef come on to prepare some crow that a watcher shot and sent to the show. The chef makes a crow gumbo out of a tough looking piece of meat that looked like pheasant to me. After going through a lot of prep, Wendy is served crow with a rice pilaf side, paired with a Napa pinot noir and a gravy boat of hot sauce. Wendy takes a healthy bite… and notes it tastes like chicken liver. Delish!

We finish up with a short, sweet tribute to Joan Rivers with a Celebrity Fan Out. Several viewers wrote in with pics with Joan which Wendy reads outloud. A nice, genuine Wendy way to remember Joan, one of the few celebrities who believed in Wendy from her 6 week sneak peak, eventually appearing on the show 8 times. It goes over a lot better than the self-serving Kristin Chenoweth disaster The View aired later that day. Touching!

After the usual Ask Wendy audience segment and Eye Candy of the Day, we’re done with episode 601 of the Wendy Show. During the webisode Aftershow, Wendy reveals that this season every Monday is Hot Topics, by ‘popular demand’. Hot Topics shows like this one are the show’s bread and butter, so it makes sense that they’d make it an even more regular feature.

I’m so excited this show is back. I genuinely adore Wendy and her take on celebrity and fearlessness to call out celebs like Beyoncé and Kris Jenner on their BS. For all the love I have of nighttime talk shows, this is the only daytime show I can watch. Hope you enjoyed this recap. Now, who wants to join me to see Wendy’s comedy act live on Halloween in Vegas?